Posts with the tropics tag

After a spectacular two night, three day passage from Guadeloupe in near-perfect sailing conditions, we dropped anchor behind Long Reef off the coast of Christiansted, St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. We were home! Our arrival excitement was magnified by knowing we were about to reunite with several friends we had not seen in quite some […]

Arriving in Îles des Saintes, Guadeloupe, was like a homecoming. We visited here last year and fell in love with the quaint French town of Terre-de-Haut, the outstanding diving and snorkeling, and the panoramic view of small, lush, mountainous islands capped with centuries-old fortresses. This is one of those special places that we can visit […]

We learned five dangerous words in St. Lucia: “Put it on our tab!” We said this way too often to the gregarious staff at the swim-up bar at the Capella Resort in Marigot Bay, St. Lucia. No, we were not paying high-end prices per night to stay at this opulent place that boasts of “unparalleled […]

There are so many small islands that are collectively called “The Grenadines” that it can be overwhelming for planning a visit. Most are uninhabited, so proper provisioning is essential. They also span two countries, St. Vincent & The Grenadines (SVG) and Grenada, so officially clearing in and out of each country is required in almost […]

Carriacou lives up to its original Kalinago name, Kayryouacou, meaning “the land of reefs”, with spectacular clear waters, and some of the most pristine underwater flora and fauna we have seen in the Caribbean so far. Combine the underwater beauty with friendly locals, gleaming white beaches, and protected anchorages, and you get a sailing cruisers’ […]

We were just playing around for a few weeks, but before we knew it, several months had passed. We never intended for anything long-term to develop. But we fell in love! We think about her all the time. We have such fond memories that we know we will see her again; must see her again! […]

As we are preparing to depart Grenada, it’s hard to believe how quickly the time has passed since we arrived, a little over three months ago. In that quarter, we found ourselves welcomed into a loving and fun community of sailors with children. The horror! We had always prided ourselves on our ability to steer […]

We were running out of time to get to Grenada from Martinique before Kimberly’s eleven-year-old godchild, Tesoro, arrived by plane to visit during her break from school, but we could not bring ourselves to sail past St. Lucia without stopping in the land of the pitons. We arrived in Rodney Bay right before sunset, and […]

After a smooth sixty-mile sail from Dominica, we arrived in a modern-day Pompeii of the Caribbean, Saint-Pierre, Martinique. The Saint-Pierre harbor is extremely deep, except right along the shoreline, so we had to get unusually close to the beach to anchor. The harbor is also littered with wrecked ships that burned and sank during the […]

How can you not love the original name of Dominica? The Amerindian settlers, who called themselves Kalinago, and were later labeled Caribs by European colonizers, gave the land a name fitting her grand form. She does make quite the first impression! The designation, Dominica, derived from Latin for “Sunday”, the day the Europeans first […]